It’s hard to be thankful for dreary weather. The fog, mist, drizzle, and rain settled in on Wednesday. Although the outside temperature was in the mid-60s most of the day, there was a “chill” in the air. That meant I had several cups of hot tea and a cup of the new-to-me McCafe horchata latte, to which I added just a little bit of half-and-half. It also meant that I did not get out for any photo walks.

Still, there is much to be thankful for:

1. Good books. I just finished Alex Michaelides’s book The Fury, and started The First Ladies about the friendship of Eleanor Roosevelt and Mary McLeod Bethune. The latter is giving me much to think about.
2. Hot beverages. The English believe that a cuppa can make just about anything better, and I believe it. I am not a big coffee drinker, but the occasional cup of some kind of “flavored” coffee is also comforting on chilly days.
3. Music. “They” say it soothes the soul, and I do believe it. Listening to music can pick up my spirits and change my mood. Of course, there is something to be said for the silence as well. There is a Facebook meme that says something to the effect that music is the silence between the notes.
4. The sounds of the birds outside the window. This morning, I heard the cooing of a mourning dove, probably sitting on the powerline that runs across our front yard. I couldn’t see it, but I definitely heard it over the hum of the machinery burying a new fiber optic cable in front of the house. (I’ll be even more thankful when that machinery goes silent! It has been rumbling and humming ALL. DAY. LONG.)

There was a popular book among the Christian community several years ago entitled One Thousand Gifts. The author made it a goal to list at least three things from her day that she perceived to be “gifts.” This book introduced me to the idea of the gratitude journal. Keeping a list of gifts in the ordinary does help put a positive spin even on those dreary, wet, miserable days. I will end with the psalmist’s words, which my brother-in-law greets our church with whenever he speaks: “This is the day the Lord has made; I will rejoice and be glad in it.”